ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2016Yasir Shah, who walked in as nightwatchman on the first evening, contributed 23 before becoming Jason Holder’s first victim. Pakistan were 342 for 6 in 93 overs•Getty ImagesSarfraz Ahmed, however, pulled his side ahead with attacking strokes and quick running•Getty ImagesHe added 70 for the seventh wicket with Mohammad Nawaz …•Getty Images… before falling to a 152 kph reverse-swinging full toss from Gabriel for 56•AFPPakistan lost their last four wickets in a space of 52 balls and were dismissed for 452.•AFPGabriel claimed his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He ended with figures of 5 for 96•AFPDarren Bravo opened the batting along with Leon Johnson since Kraigg Brathwaite had spent too long off the field during Pakistan’s innings•AFPRahat Ali struck early when he pinned Johnson lbw for 12•Getty ImagesBravo progressed to 43 before Yasir Shah dismissed him•AFPBrathwaite and Marlon Samuels then fell in the last two overs of the day as West Indies headed to stumps at 106 for 4•Getty Images

Stats and milestones from the second ODI between England and Pakistan at Lord’s

Bharath Seervi27-Aug-201610-1 England’s win-loss record against Pakistan in their last 11 ODIs. Their only loss in this sequence was in Abu Dhabi last year. Since then, they have won five in a row against Pakistan.4 Consecutive fifties for Joe Root in ODIs. Before his 89 in this match, he had scored 65, 93 and 61 in the last three ODIs. This was his third consecutive fifty against Pakistan. He has aggregated 672 runs in ODIs this year – the second-most by any batsman.12 Innings without a fifty for Eoin Morgan before making 68 in this game. His last fifty had also came against Pakistan – 76 in Abu Dhabi last year.1 Run accumulated by Pakistan’s top three batsmen in this match – lowest for any team against England. The previous lowest was three runs by Sri Lanka’s top three in Johannesburg in the 2009 Champions Trophy.2011 Last time England’s opening bowlers both took three or more wickets in an ODI innings – against Australia in Hobart. Mark Wood took 3 for 46 and Chris Woakes took 3 for 42 in this game. The last time England achieved such a feat at home was also against Pakistan, at The Oval in 2010. This was overall the tenth such instance for England.1/25 Wood’s previous best figures in ODIs before his three-for in this match. In his previous eight ODIs, Wood had never taken more than one wicket but had gone wicketless only twice.0 Previous instances of a team having single-digit stands for the first three wickets and then adding fifty-plus runs for each of the next three wickets in an ODI innings. Pakistan’s first three partnerships were 2, 0 and 0 while the next three were 64, 59 and 77.88 Previous highest score by a Pakistan batsman in ODIs at Lord’s, by Mohammad Yousuf against Australia in 2004. Sarfraz Ahmed became the first Pakistan batsman to score an ODI century at Lord’s.5 Centuries by wicketkeepers against England in England in ODIs. Sarfraz’s 105 is the fifth such knock. Kumar Sangakkara made two centuries as a keeper while Adam Gilchrist and Tim Paine scored one each. The previous highest score by a Pakistan wicketkeeper in England was 74 by Kamran Akmal at Headingley in 2010.2 Team score at which Sarfraz came in at No. 5 and made a century – the lowest such instance in ODIs. The previous lowest score at which a No. 5 made a hundred was Yuvraj Singh, who came in at score of 5 for 3 and scored 115 against South Africa in Hyderabad in 2005-06.61 Previous highest score for Imad Wasim in ODIs. He bettered it with an unbeaten 63 in this match, which is his sixth ODI innings. He hasn’t passed 20 in the other four innings of his career.

08-Oct-2016New Zealand lost their third consecutive toss, but had early success when Jeetan Patel snuffed out M Vijay•BCCIGautam Gambhir, replacing Shikhar Dhawan, marked his return to Test cricket with confidence, and raced away with consecutive sixes against Matt Henry•BCCIHe looked especially comfortable against spin in an assured second-wicket stand with Cheteshwar Pujara•BCCIHowever, Trent Boult beat Gambhir’s inside-edge and rapped him on the pads for 29•BCCIPujara and Virat Kohli then took India to 75 for 2 at lunch•BCCIPujara resumed confidently after the break, before he fell to a ripper from Mitchell Santner that took out his off stump•Associated PressBut Virat Kohli moved his feet well and held firm in the midst of a testing spell from the New Zealand spinners. In the company of Ajinkya Rahane, he steered India to 148 for 3 at tea•BCCIKohli raised his half-century soon after the break with a neat drive through covers•BCCIRahane was on the receiving end of short balls throughout his stay•BCCIBut he hung on and when the full ones came, he put them away en route to his 10th Test fifty•BCCIKohli scampered through for a single and beat a direct throw at the non-striker’s end to raise his 13th Test century•AFPThe Kohli-Rahane partnership realised 167 unbeaten runs, and took India to 267 for 3 when stumps were drawn•AFP

A fan takes us on his journey of watching cricket matches before the era of cable TV – through print

Anand Mamidipudi30-Nov-2016I still remember the smell of the newspaper when he hit that six that shattered a generation of hope. At the age of ten, I was standing in the lobby of our hotel in Sikkim, holding that hitherto unclaimed newspaper with trembling hands, as I visualised a hapless Chetan Sharma running to the wicket like a gullible lamb toward a lion’s den. Sharma then bowled what can best be described as a “lolly”, which was launched into orbit by Javed Miandad, doing his best impersonation of Obelix’s “PFAFF!!”. The legend goes that the ball was never recovered because it melted into thin air upon crossing the boundary.It did not matter that I had heard about this unfortunate event on the train to Sikkim the previous night. I was travelling on a school excursion and came across a crestfallen passenger who told me that the world had just ended in Sharjah. However, I did not truly believe him until I read about it in the newspaper the next morning. This was true of most matches that I “watched” in my childhood. To me, they only materialised when they appeared in the newspaper the next day.Take, for instance, Ravi Shastri’s heroic 107 on a bouncy pitch in Barbados; it was an innings that should have won him an award for bravery. It came against a fearsome West Indies attack that read: Marshall, Ambrose, Bishop and Walsh. Even as the rest of the Indian batting line-up crumbled around him in a heap to 63 for 6, the statuesque Shastri struck 12 boundaries in a dogged riposte. I followed the match through a newspaper, with a one-day delay and a heavy dose of imagination. He must have hit the peerless Malcolm Marshall for at least a couple of fours. Surely one of them was a “chapati” shot.You see, Shastri was my hero because he played these match-defining innings that became commonplace when a curly-haired 16-year-old emerged to dominate the sport. Until Sachin Tendulkar arrived, I drew succour from the many displays of batting obduracy from Shastri, who seemed to use a bat to win a staring contest on the pitch. His was the first name I checked on the scorecard in the newspaper, even if his more gifted, but infuriatingly fragile colleagues scored more runs. I knew from my newspaper snippets that Shastri had often patted down many thunderbolts as an opener before he gave way to the frail wizardry of Mohammad Azharuddin.One year, I willed myself to learn the Telugu alphabet because the Telugu daily showed up at our doorstep a couple of hours before the English newspapers. It gave me great joy to read “A..ja.. ha.. roo..din” next to the score of 109, a withering display of artistry in an otherwise soporific series played on dead pitches in Pakistan. India somehow claimed a 0-0 moral victory in that series. No matter the result, there was unbridled joy in reading about my Hyderabadi idol’s conquest of Mt Imran. Imran Khan was caned to the tune of 100 runs, which was fitting balm for the failure of a certain RJ Shastri, who scored a total of 16 runs in two innings. I would be remiss in not mentioning young Tendulkar’s brilliant 59, in only his second Test, a harbinger of many superhuman feats.

To me, matches only materialised when they appeared in the newspaper the next day

Newspapers have given way to a digital form of media, most of which are quite effective in representing this great sport, but nothing that I tell my seven-year-old son will convince him that reading cricket news in the early morning newspaper was a multi-sensory experience. It involved touch, smell, sight and, most importantly, boundless imagination. Even as every word unravelled in front of my eyes, my mind drew batting arcs and banana swings to fashion memorable suspense-filled storylines.There is a distinct memory in my mind of a match that I went to see in Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad in 1987. I was 11. This was the second ODI between Pakistan and India. At this time, India were finding every possible way to lose to Pakistan, and I held very little hope that the result would be any different that day. India scored a respectable 212 in 44 overs, powered by Shastri’s 69 not out. One of his two sixes landed a few feet from my seat in the pavilion, which is one of my career highlights as a cricket fan.Pakistan inevitably began chasing down the target, powered by Saleem Malik’s 84, much to the chagrin of the full crowd in Hyderabad. Run by run the target was being shaved down with precision. Still, India managed to keep the game close till the very end. In fact, so close that the run equation came down to Pakistan needing two off the last ball. Abdul Qadir faced the redoubtable Kapil Dev and the entire stadium waited with bated breath. What happened next was a blur.Kapil Dev ran in and bowled, Qadir tried an agricultural swing. The ball squirted off his edge and then there was bedlam. It appeared that Qadir had run himself out trying to get the winning run and the scores were miraculously tied! Nobody in the crowd was quite sure what had happened. After a few minutes, there was an announcement on the speaker saying that India had won the match because they had lost fewer wickets. While the crowd roared its approval, I sensed that something was off. The result was surreal. The ending was farcical theatre.I realised that there was only one way to fix the confusion in my mind. The next morning, I jumped out of bed at 6am and ran excitedly towards our verandah. Lying on the floor was a fresh, untouched copy of the . I got goosebumps as I began to slowly peel apart the pages to reveal the match that I was going to “watch” again.Want to be featured on Inbox? Send your articles to us here, with “Inbox” in the subject line.

Plays of the day from the second T20I between New Zealand and Bangaldesh in Mount Maunganui

Mohammad Isam06-Jan-2017The missed trickColin Munro went after the Bangladesh bowlers from the first over, and it quickly became apparent that he was standing outside the crease and walking all over the place to make room for almost every delivery. In the third over, he swung and missed against Mashrafe Mortaza before wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan attempted to run him out with an underarm throw.Later in the same over, Munro collected a big six over midwicket and a four over third man, none of which was hit with his feet inside the crease. So if Hasan had realised that Munro was venturing outside his crease frequently, why did he not stand up to the stumps to keep the batsman in the crease?The one that stood outMunro struck some amazing blows during his 101, but the first six off Mahmudullah in his 28-run over stood out. Off a delivery that had little pace, Munro reverse-slapped over short third man, and sent the ball into the grassbanks. It was a big hit, and his brute power easily stood out. Two balls later, he hit another six with a switch hit, but that was more of a slog. The first one took the crown.The dreaded full tossSabbir Rahman rued getting out to a full toss in the first T20, so when Colin de Grandhomme laid another one at him in the fourth over, he was angry at not being able to clear the in-field. Even as Sabbir chastised himself upon seeing Kane Williamson stop his push to cover, Tamim was halfway down when Sabbir noticed and sent him back. Williamson’s throw reached the bowler, who fumbled initially. But de Grandhomme eventually completed the run-out and the full toss had yielded a wicket again.The gambleAfter Ish Sodhi had conceded 16 off his first over, Kane Williamson would have been forgiven for taking him out of the attack. But Williamson brought him back, in the 13th over. Sodhi bowled a poor wide delivery, but took out Sabbir Rahman with his next ball. And with the over costing just two, the gamble had paid off handsomely.The timely breakWilliamson brought himself into the attack in the eighth over of the chase and worked his way through the middle overs. The gamble paid off when Williamson removed Mosaddek Hossain in his third over. The batsman pulled in the air, and Mitchell Santner ran hard to his right, then dived full-length to complete a superb catch.

A team of Pakistani engineers has developed a wearable piece of technology that measures elbow flex in bowlers in real time

Ahmer Naqvi30-Jan-20171:58

CricFlex tests bowling actions at a club in Lahore

Of all the anachronisms that bedevil cricket, none has been as perplexing as the issue of chucking or, with more political correctness, bowling with illegal actions. For much of cricket’s history, the rule on the village green was the same as that in international matches – the umpire used the naked eye to determine if an action was illegal.The emergence of Muttiah Muralitharan, and the discovery early this century that nearly all bowlers had some amount of kink in their actions, belatedly brought science into the equation. The decision to use technology, to rely on biomechanical analysis recorded in labs, arrived from the desire to make things fairer, but it has also made things more confusing.In a article on the question of determining the legality of bowling actions, Osman Samiuddin concluded by saying that the approach to it was “as if cricket’s toes are partially dipped into the ocean of science and there is a great wave approaching”.We might not be seeing the wave just yet, but perhaps cricket is about to get more than its toes wet. A group of young Pakistani engineers claims to have developed a wearable technology that can measure the elbow flex in an action in real time, and so could potentially be used in match play. CricFlex, as the product is known, consists of small motion sensors (of the sort used in phones for orienting maps) attached to a sleeve that a bowler can wear. The device sends its readings to an app, either on a mobile phone or a computer, immediately after the bowler has delivered.While the tested bowlers didn’t find the arm sleeve restrictive, they were all bothered by the thought that they might be flexing their elbows while bowling•CricFlexThe team has published a research paper on the technology used, which was accepted at an MIT conference in 2015. They have also patented the technology in the US. But the device is still a prototype, and requires further testing. The patent affords it a degree of validity, and their work has been acknowledged by a leading biomechanist. They are now seeking formal validation testing from a biomechanics lab. They are likely to use the facilities at LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences), where the PCB has set up such a lab. Validation testing is ultimately what will provide the truest measure of how accurate such a product is – when its readings go up, for example, against the results of a marker-based system in a lab environment.In January the CricFlex team tested the device with the Yuslim Cricket Club in Lahore. The prototype used by the CricFlex team comprised a generic sleeve made of the dri-fit material that is used in athletic apparel, and ran from mid-bicep to mid-forearm. A coin-sized sensor was attached near (but not on) the elbow joint, and the entire apparatus was largely unobtrusive; none of the bowlers tested complained of any interference in their movements as they bowled.Each bowler was asked to wear a sleeve and then hold their arm in three positions – stretched out straight, bent at 45 degrees and then at 90 degrees. This allowed the device to orient itself to the particular bowler. The non-invasive nature of the set-up meant that the bowler could bowl normally, and the app showed the readings the second they delivered the ball.But once we began, the stigmatising pressure of the process began to show. Several bowlers lost their lengths under trial, often delivering full tosses. Once they saw their readings, though, they would relax. However, a new concern soon cropped up, which highlighted how little bowlers at this grade understood the 15-degree rule. Some of them began to worry about readings like five degrees of flex, asking their coaches how they could bring it down to zero.CricFlexIndeed, that is the reality that grass-roots bowlers face – the fear of even a hint of kink in their actions. At this level, conditions such as hyperextension will not be picked up, and instead a bowler will more often be branded as having an illegal action than not. That will affect their prospects of progressing further up. Since the ICC crackdown two years ago, and right after it took its highest-profile victim, Saeed Ajmal, the PCB suspended a further 16 bowlers on the domestic circuit whose actions were reported to be illegal. At this level there are many stories among local cricketers of overzealous officials targeting one bowler or another.Abdullah Ahmed, CricFlex’s team leader, said Ajmal’s ban was what spurred him and two others – Muhammad Jazib Khan and Muhammad Asawal – to develop the sleeve. It began life as a semester project at NUST (National University of Sciences and Technology), a top engineering university in Islamabad. The team – all software or electrical engineers – has now grown to five.They told ESPNcricinfo that their main purpose was to make their technology accessible at the grassroots level. The estimated cost of one of their sleeves is around US$300, which is far more affordable and less cumbersome than sending a club player to a biomechanics lab for testing his action. CricFlex’s ambitions, however, are not limited to just this level. “The ultimate goal,” says Ahmed, “is to implement this [technology] within live matches.”Real-time testing, within a match, is cricket’s final frontier. During its latest cleanse of illegal actions, the ICC worked with Griffith University in Brisbane to develop a sensor that bowlers could wear on the field, which would deliver instant readings. They trialled it on bowlers in nets at the Under-19 World Cup in the UAE in 2014. That experiment seemed to have overcome early problems with the calibration of the devices (once a bowler dives in the field, for instance, will the device need to be recalibrated?) but ultimately, burgeoning costs meant the project was not continued. Another university in Australia has developed a wearable inertial sensor system capable of measuring elbow extension during the bowling action; it has undergone validation testing and is currently in the process of being commercialised.And this is where the potential of CricFlex’s technology might really bear fruit, because apart from measuring the degree of flex, it also provides other fascinating data for coaches and analysts. As it stands, the device provides four readings on each delivery. Apart from the degree of elbow flex, it also measures arm speed, and what it calls arm twist and arm force. Arm twist is a measurement of the rotation in a spinner’s forearm as they deliver; the latter is a measure of the effort a bowler puts in, in Newtons. These readings can provide valuable data on the levels of fatigue for the bowlers, their effectiveness for different variations, and insights on subtle changes in their actions across a spell or a match.The USP of the sleeve technology lies in its simplicity•CricFlexCricFlex’s simplicity is appealing. The bowler wears the sleeve, which is then calibrated using a simple two-step process. When they bowl, the four data points show up instantaneously on the mobile, on a simple interface. All this means that some basic instructions would suffice in getting someone to start using the device.The potential impact is significant. Since actions are generally not tested for all but the bowlers at the highest levels, many now look to take extreme caution with suspect actions. A technology like CricFlex, however, might allow club and academy officials to come to far more rational decisions quicker.There is still some time before CricFlex can hope to come into common use, though. During the testing, the coaches sent in two young boys who both bowled offspin. They expressed their doubts about the action of one, but were very confident about the other. The boy whose action they suspected started off with a flurry of full tosses before eventually settling down. His action came in under five degrees of flex, and the coaches were surprised. They then looked forward to the other bowler, but were left aghast by his first reading – 35 degrees.Abdullah and his team quickly diagnosed the problem. The bowler had a small trigger movement with his arms before bowling, similar to what R Ashwin has in his action. The device was reading the flex in the trigger movement rather than the action. CricFlex say that using one device across many bowlers would cause such issues, and they are using such tests to determine how to fine-tune their readings. They aim to eventually make highly customised sleeves, where the sensors are precisely calibrated according to an individual bowler’s idiosyncrasies.Like all exciting technologies, one of the things that struck me about this device was why it hadn’t been invented earlier. The ingenuity of it lay in its simplicity, and its applications beyond measuring elbow extension are where its potential impact lies. Rather than worrying about bowling actions, analysts and coaches can now begin to fine-tune strategies and skills, learning how to best utilise the unique abilities of each bowler. In a few years, that wave of technological advancement could well be crashing all around the sport.

Aakash Chopra analyses the various methods used by India’s bowlers to bowl Bangladesh out on a fifth-day pitch that was still quite good to bat on

Aakash Chopra13-Feb-2017Ashwin’s rangeThe first three R Ashwin dismissals showed he has ways to dismiss batsmen even when the pitch isn’t too responsive. All three dismissals came in different fashions.Tamim Iqbal: When the ball is new, Ashwin prefers to go around the stumps to the left-handers. From that angle, he keeps the ball really close to the stumps. Some go straight with the arm and the rest turn away. In addition to that he keeps the midwicket region empty, tempting the batsmen to play against the spin. His variation in pace accentuates the problem for the batsman, for stepping out becomes tougher.Mominul Haque: Once the ball got old, he went back to over the stumps and this time consumed Mominul with a classical offspinner’s dismissal. It was a nicely flighted delivery that pitched on a good-length spot within the stumps and spun sharply to find the outside edge. The trick to play such a ball is to stretch fully forward and smother the spin, if possible. Mominul had a very short stride. Ben Duckett played Ashwin in a similar manner during England’s tour of India, and paid the ultimate price.Mushfiqur Rahim: Mushfiqur stepped out and drove one nicely through the empty cover region. A couple of balls later, he tried the same thing but this time the ball was a little flatter in the air and fell a few inches shorter than expected. The ball also went straight with the arm and found the outside edge of the bat. I remember Ashwin doing the same to Joe Root a couple of times in the last series.Jadeja and the roughIf there’s a fair amount of rough created outside the left-handers’ off stump, it’s almost impossible to negotiate Ravindra Jadeja for a long period. The problem starts with Jadeja’s extra pace in the air and gets complemented with his unrelenting accuracy. In decades gone by, batsmen could kick these deliveries away, but in the era of the DRS, it’s not a viable option anymore. Deliberate padding is an option only if the ball has pitched outside leg. Jadeja’s speed doesn’t allow you to sweep, something Alastair Cook found out, and playing on the back foot is the only way to negotiate him. But that’s also full of danger, for some some balls land in the rough and the rest in the area between the scruffy patches. It’s almost impossible to gauge and negotiate successfully. Shakib’s dismissal was a fine example of this.Ishant’s legcutterThere seems to be a useful addition to Ishant’s bowling variations. Once the ball got old and started reversing, he did well to make the ball deviate off the pitch away from the right-handed batsman. While his natural length is a little short for exploiting reverse-swing against the tail-enders, his ability to bowl legcutters will make him more potent against the top-order batsmen.

It wasn’t a perfect performance but it came against the No. 1 ODI team. And it did provide a reminder that, for all their frailty with the bat, they have a potent bowling attack that can win them games

George Dobell at Edgbaston08-Jun-2017Just when even their most loyal supporters were beginning to lose faith, just as the cornered tigers had started to look like tamed kittens, long after the cliché about them being mercurial had become not so much a description, as a desperate expression of hope, Pakistan go and do something like this.You didn’t think they had become predictable, did you?Victory here – albeit in another rain-ravaged match in a tournament that is in danger of drowning – not only revives their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals, but suggests things are not quite as bad as they seemed against India on Sunday night.Nobody should think that all Pakistan’s issues are resolved. They still lack big-hitting batsmen; they still have a long tail; they still need to find a way to produce more batsmen and they probably benefited from the shortened nature of the match. For some, this performance will just render Sunday’s drubbing all the more frustrating. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the magnitude of that occasion simply rattled them.But this victory did come against the world’s No.1 ranked ODI team. And it did provide a reminder that, for all their frailty with the bat, they have a potent bowling attack that, given just a bit of support from its fielders, can win them games.There were several factors behind Pakistan’s improvement, not least the selection, the fielding and an oddly-tentative performance from South Africa who, it has to be said, played a large part in their own downfall. This was almost a stereotypical performance from both teams, with one unpredictably brilliant and the other unpredictably wilting under pressure. It was all so very Pakistan. And all so very South Africa.But the key ingredient was reverse swing. In a tournament that has been characterised by the impotence of bowlers, Pakistan at last found a way to make the ball move laterally. It was only an inch or two; it was only for a while. But that reverse swing gave Pakistan a weapon and they have bowlers who knew how to use it.The swing was probably created by the surface. With poor weather convincing the groundsman to abandon plans to use a new pitch – he was concerned it would start damp, the ball would make indentations in it and it would then be unsuitable for usage in Saturday’s match between England and Australia – it was decided, instead, to revert to the surface used in the first two matches of this tournament at Edgbaston.That meant it was drier and a bit more abrasive than previous matches. And with Pakistan introducing spin into the attack early, allowing them to scuff up one side of the balls perfectly legally, the Pakistan seamers were able to return as early as the 23rd over and Hasan Ali struck in the 29th – meaning that ball was only 15 overs old – and attack at a time batsmen have been tending to dominate in this tournament.3:28

Fleming: Hasan Ali could play more prominent role with new ball

Hasan struck with successive deliveries in that over. Angling the ball into JP Duminy from around the wicket, Hasan persuaded it to leave the left-handed batsman just a touch but enough to draw the edge and reward Pakistan for persisting with a slip when they saw the first signs of movement. Wayne Parnell fell in almost identical fashion to the next delivery, only he missed the ball entirely and lost his off stump as a consequence.By then, though, Pakistan’s spinners had already claimed three wickets out of six. After Junaid Khan, far more accurate than the injured Wahab Riaz, and Mohammad Amir conceded only three fours in the first Powerplay, the spinners built pressure. While there was little sign of any turn, the pitch was slow enough to render stroke-making a little more difficult than has been the case so far this tournament and, with Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez bowling admirably straight, any mistake by South Africa’s jittery batsmen was punished.To apply any pressure, though, it was essential Pakistan produced a better display in the field. They were unrecognisable from the rabble we saw on Sunday. From the first moments, throws buzzed back towards the keeper in the field. Fielders threw themselves around in an attempt to cut-off the ball – Hasan launched himself full length to save a run in the opening minutes – and all the trepidation of Sunday was replaced with commitment, belief and desire.There was still a ghost from the past. Ahmed Shehzad, dropped after his apparently ambivalent performance in the first match, was briefly pressed into use as a substitute fielder and promptly conceded a run after letting the ball bobble through his hands at cover. On Sunday, such errors hardly stuck out as they were the norm; here it was an infuriating aberration.Shehzad’s replacement also impressed with the bat on his ODI debut. While it would be an exaggeration to say Fakhar Zaman was completely convincing – he took two crushing blows off bouncers, one to the head and another to the shoulder – he was wonderfully committed to the cause. By the time he had faced 11 deliveries, he had struck more fours (three) than anyone in the South Africa side and by the time he had faced 18, he had struck three more. It was exactly the bold start a nervous Pakistan side required and in stark contrast to Shehzad’s cagey performance of Sunday. It allowed them to soak up later pressure – at one stage they faced three maidens in succession and scored only four runs in five overs – and ensure they were still ahead of the rate when the rain came.But the improvement on Sunday’s performance was best summed-up by Hasan’s fielding. Having failed to hold on to a chance off Yuvraj Singh at long-off – and failing to reach another possible chance – he took two in a similar position here with the second, to dismiss Kagiso Rabada, an excellent running effort.It wasn’t, by any means, a perfect performance. But it was a decent step in the right direction.

India have played in front of the two previous sellout crowds at the World Cup, but the final at a packed Lord’s will be a whole new experience

Firdose Moonda21-Jul-20171:11

‘I wanted to quit after 2009 World Cup’ – Raj

The first time Mithali Raj played in a World Cup final, a dozen years ago, she is pretty sure almost no-one was watching.”Hardly anybody knew India have qualified for the finals. They were all too involved in men’s cricket. The match wasn’t even televised,” she remembered.The second time, now, she is quite sure everyone or at least everyone one who wants to and can, will be watching. “This World Cup is completely different to the other editions because it has given scope for the players to increase their profile as well as promote women’s cricket on a larger scale. And it’s also an opportunity for the Indian team to make it big in India,” she said. “Everybody will be glued to the television on Sunday. If we can pull it off, there will be nothing like it. It will help the future of women’s cricket. All the women cricketers back in India who even think of making it a career will always be thankful to this bunch of players for giving it that platform.”**Raj started this campaign, her fifth, on the front foot. Asked at the tournament’s opening dinner who her favourite male cricketer was, with the caveat that she had to choose from either the Indian or Pakistani team, she shot back in response.”Do you ask the same question to a male cricketer? I have always been asked who’s your favourite cricketer but you should ask them who their favourite female cricketer is.”She went on to explain that India’s female cricketers still have “a lot of catch-up to do in terms of recognition” compared to their male counterparts. Yes, even India, where the sport is often described as a religion with millions of disciples, struggle to put their female cricketers at centre-stage. This World Cup should change that. It has already started to.The opening match between England and India in Derby was sold out. There were 3,100 people in attendance. A week later, the match between India and Pakistan was sold out too. And three weeks after that, the final, also between England and India, at Lord’s is also sold out. There will be 26,500 people in attendance. That’s eight-and-a-half times the number that turned out for the first match and it’s not just a reflection of the difference in capacity between the two grounds. It is an indicator of interest.Overall, this World Cup has reported an 80% bigger audience than the previous edition with a global reach of more than 50 million people. The Indian market has been a key contributor to those numbers. Their television audience has increased by 47% since 2013 and India will be the only team to play in front of all the three full houses the tournament has had.For the first time in their careers, the Indian women understand what it’s like to be superstars. Raj said pre-tournament that the women had yet to enjoy hordes of fans or experience the hype their men have come to regard as normal. Sunday will change that and she hopes that her team understand the significance attached to being part of it. “The girls need to enjoy being in an atmosphere like that. Each one is lucky to be part of a final at Lord’s. Every cricketer dreams of playing at Lord’s because of the history. This is a big achievement,” she said.Smriti Mandhana’s form has faded since he wonderful start to the tournament but is a key part of India’s future•Getty ImagesOf course the players aren’t the only lucky ones. Those who turn up at Lord’s, or turn on their televisions, will be treated to some of the greats of the game. In Raj and Jhulan Goswami, they will see the record-holders for the most runs and most wickets in women’s ODIs, and they may well be seeing them for the last time. Raj has confirmed this will be her last World Cup and Goswami, who is the same age, is likely to be in the same position.Between them, they have put their team on the map. Now they want the younger crop to take them further, the likes of 19-year-old Deepti Sharma, 21-year old Smriti Mandhana and 24-year old Veda Krishnamurthy. All three have turned in notable performances at this tournament already – Deepti a three-for against England, Mandhana 90 against England and an unbeaten century against West Indies and Krishnamurthy a quick fifty against New Zealand.The sharing of responsibility is what has pleased Raj most about India as well as her team’s ability to dig themselves out of holes and she wants them to combine the two in the final. She’s asked her openers to try to post more runs upfront than they did against Australia, where India were 35 for 2 inside the first 10 overs. “Ideally, I want the openers to have more runs,” Raj said.And if they don’t? “It’s okay as long as the team looks very confident. If you want to be the best side in the world, you need to know how to make comebacks I can say the team knows how to make a comeback.”India had to claw their way back after successive defeats to South Africa and Australia, which put them in what was effectively a quarter-final against New Zealand. They defended 265 by routing New Zealand for 79. At this tournament, they have also defended lower scores: 169 against Pakistan and 232 against Sri Lanka, but the magic number has been 281.That was their top-score, the score they got in their first match against England and the score they posted in the semi-final against Australia. Both times it proved enough. Enough by 35 runs the first time and 36 the second. Both times it also provided two of the competition’s more entertaining games, which is what Raj wants her team to showcase when she knows everyone is watching.”It’s important when matches are televised to showcase a very good brand of cricket. That’s how we attract more people to come and watch woman’s games.”And from Sunday, there may be many many more watching the Indian team.

Barring the Sri Lanka game, a set method has resulted in success so far, and proceedings in the semi-final weren’t too different

Nagraj Gollapudi in Edgbaston15-Jun-20173:00

Tait: Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar in good shape going into the final

The pressure is on India.Sarfraz Ahmed said that first. Mashrafe Mortaza said that next. Yet Virat Kohli’s India have waltzed into the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy without breaking much sweat or missing too many steps. India have made winning look ridiculously easy.That success has come through a set template: throttle the opposition in the first 10 overs, take wickets in the middle overs and finish well each time they have bowled first. Indian bowlers have taken the most wickets in the middle segment of the innings – 19. And when it comes to chasing down targets, India are well-versed in this art, evident in the semi-final against Bangladesh.On Thursday, the Indian batsmen cut loose from the start. Their run rate was much quicker in the first Powerplay – 63 for 0 was their best start after 10 overs in four matches of the tournament after scores of 37, 48, 46 at the same stage (against South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively). By the halfway stage India were 164 for the loss of Shikhar Dhawan. Having wrapped up the Bangladesh innings almost 20 minutes ahead of the regulation time, India turned the screws fast on their opponents even with the bat.Critics have pointed out that in tightly-run tournaments like these, the opposition usually is not consistently of high standard and that the pitches are skewed in favour of the batsmen, which feeds India’s strength. But those conditions should apply to the other seven teams too. England were the firm favourites. South Africa and New Zealand disappointed themselves. Australia were unlucky to be beaten twice by the weather. You cannot fault India for doing what they are good at.On the eve of the tournament, Virat Kohli had mentioned there were three factors that helped India win the title in 2013: the success of the Shikhar Dhawan-Rohit Sharma opening combination, the domination of their spin pair – R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – and their fielding.Virat Kohli was delighted with how the Bhuvneshwar Kumar-Jasprit Bumrah combination had stepped up in the last two matches•Getty ImagesTwo of those factors have contributed to their success four years later. Dhawan and Rohit are the most successful opening pairing not just this edition but in Champions Trophy history. Both men have one century each so far in this edition and their four 100-plus partnerships are the most by any pair in the tournament’s history.After the Pakistan victory, Kohli had admitted fielding was a grey area and he would give his unit six out of 10. Against South Africa,the ruthless fielding unit effected three run outs, of which two- AB de Villiers and David Miller – were match-turning.As far as Ashwin and Jadeja go, they have been forced to be defensive on pitches where the ball has not gripped the surface and spun much. Despite that, India’s bowling has managed to squeeze the opposition throughout the innings barring the solitary failure against Sri Lanka, who transformed a challenging target into a cakewalk.Forced to re-think after the loss, India gave Jasprit Bumrah the opportunity to share the new ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, possibly the best death-bowling pair in cricket currently. In fact, in this edition, among teams bowling first, they have the best economy rate in the final 10 overs.Australia captain, Steven Smith, has called Bhuvneshwar the best death bowler, but the Indian seamer is equally smart as a strike bowler too. The conditions at the start of the Bangladesh innings were exactly what Bhuvneshwar would have wanted: overcast with a little breeze. He started by pitching some deliveries wide, tempting the batsmen to reach out. Tamim Iqbal did not. Soumya Sarkar did and paid the price by playing on.Sabbir Rahman was eager to bolt out of his crease almost every ball, thus revealing his hand. Bhuvneshwar hit the hard lengths and pitched short to frustrate him. The batsman was kept on the edge of the crease as Bhuvneshwar would angle in a fuller length delivery next ball. Bhuvneshwar eventually trapped Sabbir as he stretched out to play a wider delivery on off stump to Jadeja at point.”Outstanding,” is how Kohli summed up the role the Bhuvneshwar-Bumrah new-ball combine. “Especially in the last two games. they have been terrific initially and in the later stages as well. Their wicket-taking ability is always something that the opposition knows, so they are always careful about going hard against these two guys.”According to Kohli, the fast bowlers had worked hard to improve their lines and length, an exercise that was monitored under the sharp watch of India coach Anil Kumble. Kohli agreed it has paid dividends. “After the Sri Lanka, the lengths and line has been impeccable, so consistent, bowling close to the batsman, always there with an opportunity to get a wicket. Even in conditions which are not offering too much bowling such lines that can produce wicket-taking opportunities. Big credit to both of them for getting us where we stand right now.”With bat, ball, and in the field, India have strived hard to be on top. They have made mistakes, but they have also swiftly corrected them – like the bowlers improvising their line and lengths or the top order scoring at a brisk rate. Today when they found themselves under pressure – as Tamim and Mushfiqur played aggressively between the 12th and 25 overs, adding 93 – Kohli brought in part-timer Kedar Jadhav to distract the batsman. Jadhav was eventually the catalyst for victory.As Kohli said, the hype about playing Pakistan for the second time in two weeks could distract everyone else, except India, who will continue to play “boring cricket.” Boring = consistent, proactive, ruthless.On Sunday India will find themselves at a place they have desired to be in. The pressure, obviously, will be back on them. Pakistan will, no doubt, say that.